Awards showcase research impact in Faculty of Environment
University of Leeds Faculty of Environment researchers and support teams who strive to make a meaningful difference in the world have been recognised for their exceptional contributions.
The 2024 Research Impact and Engagement Awards turned the spotlight on staff who exemplify Leeds’ ambition for maximising positive impact, driving down inequalities and addressing social and economic challenges.
This is achieved by influencing policy, driving economic growth, promoting cultural enrichment, improving health outcomes, building social capital or fostering sustainable development.
By recognising the wide-ranging forms of impact achieved through collaboration and perseverance, the awards aim to inspire others to undertake and engage in equally transformative research.
Professor Shearer West, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Leeds, said: “In my short time at the University so far, I've been incredibly impressed with the talented people we have here on this fabulous campus, and the commitment I can see every day to improving lives and making the world a better place.
“Research impact is often hard-won. It takes time, effort, patience and researchers who are willing to go the extra mile. It was therefore a great privilege to recognise and celebrate the work of our research community.”
I genuinely believe that universities should be focused on quality, the values that we hold and the impact we have on society, students and the world – including through our research.
The Faculty of Environment achieved considerable recognition for projects from the School of Geography and Environment in the categories of Economic, Cultural and Environmental impact.
Reflecting on a successful evening which highlighted the range of impactful research, Faculty Pro Dean for Research and Innovation, Professor Ed Manley said, “These awards and nominations are testament to the incredible commitment of colleagues in the Faculty to making a positive contribution to the world. They reflect a consistent approach to nurturing partnerships and developing public benefit, backed up by world-class research and the support of professional service and academic colleagues. Congratulations to all!”
These awards and nominations are testament to the incredible commitment of colleagues in the Faculty to making a positive contribution to the world.
Building on the successful Engaged for Impact Awards in 2022, presentations were made across six categories: Cultural, Economic, Environmental, Health, Policy and Societal Impact. Applications for the awards nearly doubled year-on-year.
Each category featured two winners – one for emerging impact, the other for mature impact.
Professor Nick Plant, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation, said: “At the heart of our University strategy is the desire to work together, across our internal community and with external partners to tackle inequalities, benefit society and drive change. We’re highly focused on impact and making a positive difference in the world, and we want all our colleagues to be recognised for the role they play in this.”
The awards are a great opportunity to showcase our incredible colleagues who support and deliver excellent research that’s focused on the needs of global and local populations, and I hope the nominees and winners inspire others to maximise impact in all that we do.
For a full list of winners and those that received special mentions, visit our dedicated awards page.
Faculty of Environment award winners and contributors
Emerging impact categories
Cultural impact
Research enriches lives through arts and culture. It supports the production of new cultural artefacts and inspires new forms of artistic expression. This award recognises innovative, high-quality research with the potential for impact on culture, creativity or civil society.
Winning project – Touching the past: broadening heritage access using tactile models of geoscience data.
Lead – Dr Adam Booth (School of Earth and Environment)
Contributors – Dr Raymond Holt and Dr Briony Thomas (School of Mechanical Engineering); Tegwen Roberts (Wakefield Council, formerly Barnsley Museums); and Gemma Clarke (Barnsley Museums).
Environmental impact
Research is playing a pivotal role in addressing arguably the biggest challenge facing the world today. Interventions designed to tackle climate change and global warming are critically underpinned by research. This award recognises innovative and high-quality research with the potential to have a positive impact on the environment.
Winning project – Improving national early warning capability for flooding.
Lead – Professor Cathryn Birch (School of Earth and Environment)
Contributors – Dr Steven Boeing, Dr Ben Maybee and Joseph Smith (School of Earth and Environment); Professor Mark Trigg (School of Civil Engineering); Julia Perez (Flood Forecasting Centre), Aurore Porson (Met Office); Kay Shelton (JBA Consulting); and Dr Linda Speight (University of Oxford).
Mature impacts categories
Economic impact
Research can have an economic impact through the development of new technologies, processes, practices and guidelines. This award recognises research that has made a difference to the financial wellbeing and resilience of the economy, business, industry, public sector organisation, charity or any other defined user group.
Winning project – Informing food insecurity intervention in the UK through localised insights into food insecurity risk.
Lead – Dr Fran Pontin (School of Geography/Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC)
Contributors – Professor Michelle Morris (School of Food Science and Nutrition and CDRC), Dr Rachel Oldroyd (School of Geography), Robyn Naisbitt (School of Geography and CRDC), Dr Emily Ennis (formerly CRDC), Alex Hambley (formerly CRDC), Peter Baudains (formerly CRDC), Ahmed Ammash (Leeds Institute of Data Analytics – LIDA) and Abdelrahman Ibrahim (Leeds Institute of Data Analytics – LIDA).
Environmental impact
Research is making a difference to how the world addresses climate change and global warming. This award recognises research that’s improving the environment through new products, processes, services, behaviour change, strategies, policies or monitoring techniques.
Winning project – Mapping wilderness to informing decisions on global biodiversity and climate targets.
Lead – Professor Steve Carver (School of Geography)
Policy impact
Research can underpin new forms of governance, guidance and policymaking. This award recognises research that has fed into policy at the local, regional, national or global levels.
Winning project – Safer parks: improving access for women and girls.
Lead – Dr Anna Barker (School of Law)
Contributors – Rizwana Alam, Dr Sally Osei-Appiah and Dr Sibylla Warrington Brown (School of Law); Lauren Cape-Davenhill (School of Geography); Professor George Holmes (School of Earth and Environment); Kersti Mitchell (External Communications); Lynsey Atherton, Carl McClean, Paul Todd and Michelle Walde (Keep Britain Tidy); Tracy Brabin, Helen Forman, Alison Lowe, Vanessa Rolfe and Ian Yates (West Yorkshire Combined Authority); Nathan Capstick and Professor Adam Crawford (ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre); Josie Brookes (Freelance); James Harper, Clare Perry and Rosie Turner (Harper Perry); Jeanette Morris-Boam (Leeds Women’s Aid); and Susannah Walker (Make Space for Girls).
Societal impact
Special mention – Kayuh Baimbai: Co-designing a diffability-inclusive disaster preparedness toolkit (diffability – a term we use for different ability to acknowledge various way of doing things and people with diffability agency)
Lead – Dr Desy Pirmasari (School of Geography)
Contributors – Dr Katie McQuaid and Andi Misbahul Pratiwi (School of Geography); Slamet Triyadi (Indonesia Disabled People’s Association Banjarmasin Chapter); Barniah (Indonesia Disabled Women’s Association Banjarmasin Chapter); Diffability Liaison Officers (DLOs) Budi Kurniawan and Ilham Akbar (Antasari Islamic State University).
